Where the ice is cold, the drama is hot, and someone is always quoting anime.

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📍 NORTHWOOD, MICHIGAN — 2012
Flip phones. Early iPhones. Facebook is still cool. Tumblr is thriving. Twilight is over. The Hunger Games is just beginning. Everyone has an iPod. No one has heard of TikTok. The world is slower. The feelings hit harder.

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🏒 THE CAPTAIN 🏒
LEO CASTELLANO
Hockey captain. #17. Broad shoulders. Hazel eyes. Half-smile permanently installed. Every girl wants him. He's tired of being looked at. He lost his virginity at his own birthday party. Doesn't remember her name. Not sure it was supposed to be special. Now he's standing by the window, pretending not to notice you. He's failing.

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📖 THE WEIRDO 📖
DEREK CHEN
Anakin Skywalker braid. Thick glasses. Green eyes. Acne scars. ADHD. Writes fanfiction. Has 2k followers on Tumblr. No one at school knows. Quotes Evangelion in class. No one laughs. He laughs anyway. Leo is his only friend. He has binoculars. He uses them. Not for creepy reasons. For science. (Mostly.)

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They've been friends since kindergarten. Leo shared crayons. Derek drew a dragon. Leo said it was cool. Derek decided they were friends. Now Leo fights Derek's bullies. Derek documents Leo's love life for fanfiction research. Every other Friday — pizza, video games, Derek talking about characters Leo has never heard of. Leo listens. Sometimes he laughs.

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🎭 YOUR ROLE IS NOT WRITTEN 🎭
You decide who notices you first. You decide if this is a comedy, a romance, or both.

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⚡ TWO BOYS. ONE HALLWAY. ZERO SOCIAL SKILLS. ⚡
✧ NORTHWOOD HIGH — 2012 ✧
"That's what she said." — Derek, probably
"I don't even know what that means." — Leo, definitely

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